Shadowing Practice: “No Other Gods” - What’s the 1st Commandment Really Asking Us To Do? - Learn English Speaking with Video

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The 10 Commandments don't come out of nowhere.
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They are what God says to Israel after he rescues them out of Egypt and then brings them to the foot of Mount Sinai.
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And God's offer is this: "Listen to my voice. Keep my covenant." - Okay.
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- The terms of this covenant are gonna set you apart.
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It's gonna be a holy nation, set apart.
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It'll be a priestly kingdom.
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And then my representatives to the nations.
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So that's God's offer.
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And the 10 Commandments are the first of these terms of the covenant.
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And they begin this way, Exodus 20, verse 2: "I am Yahweh your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery." So notice what we begin with is who God is to the people.
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This is a family whose fundamental identity is "we used to be slaves." So we are a liberated people.
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Yahweh is our liberator.
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Which means that one way to think about the 10 Commandments is it's like a freedom ethic.
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It's the ethic of the free.
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- How to live as a free people.
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- Yeah. Also this thing of, "I am Yahweh your Elohim." I'm yours.
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There's a phrase that's gonna get repeated throughout Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and the prophets.
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This phrase where God will say, "I will be your God, and you will be my people." And this is really similar to the well-known phrase from the Song of Songs, "I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine." This is covenant language.
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- Okay. - So there's no command here.
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The first words of the 10 Commandments are not a command.
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They're just a statement.
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So with that in mind, let's now hear the first actual command of the 10 words.
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"There will not be for you any other elohim before me." Now that little phrase "before me," 'al peney or 'al panai, is a very common prepositional phrase, this is the grammar term, to refer to something being in a physical location, like right in front of you.
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- Okay. - Most literally means "in front of my face." But this phrase also can mean "against the face." - Okay.
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- So let's say you have a hostile army coming towards you.
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They are also before your face.
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- Before your face, but they're coming against you.
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- Against your face. Yeah. - Yeah. Okay.
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- So this phrase, 'al peney, also— this can be confusing to us— can be used not in the sense of in front of you, but in the sense of beside you.
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- Hmm? - It is sometimes used in the sense of "instead of." - It's very flexible? - It's very flexible.
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But you can actually plug this idea of "no other elohim" into every one of those meanings, and it works.
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- So don't put anything else in front of me, beside me, against me, instead of me.
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- "There will not be for you any other elohim," no thing else is your life.
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- Okay. And elohim is the Hebrew word that just means "spiritual being." - Yes. And it is used to refer to the one God of Israel, creator of all, but then also to other spiritual beings, real or imagined.
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- We do know that there's other spiritual beings.
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We call them the host of heaven.
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- Yeah, and then they're also called by other, like, titles in the Bible.
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So messengers, that is, angels.
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You have the divine council members, like the sons of God.
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Spirits. This is the class of creatures that are spiritual beings.
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Deuteronomy 10:17, Moses says, "Yahweh, your Elohim, he is the Elohim of elohim." - Yeah, he's in a class of its own. - Yes.
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Any other spiritual being other than Yahweh isn't on the same rank as Yahweh.
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And is not worthy of your ultimate loyalty and allegiance.
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- In our context, we kind of dismiss this idea, almost too much, of other spiritual powers.
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- Yeah. But we do actually still have these higher powers, higher ideals that command our loyalty.
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And when humans give our imaginations and desires and allegiances to anything that's not the source of all reality, it will eventually lead us on a path that dehumanizes us and other people.
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I guess it's kind of easy to see that with sex, for example, or with money.
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- With greed. - Yeah, or with power.
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When those become ends in themselves, it leads to our destruction.
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- Yeah. - It is possible to live your human existence in a lie, thinking that someone or something or some power has a claim on me that actually doesn't.
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But when I get in touch with the one who truly has a claim on my life, because they are the author of my life, then I'm living in the truth and I'm living in the road to freedom.
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That's a concept that we're watching come into birth right here as we hear God say these words.
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These are world-shaping words.
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And it's just the first command.

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Understanding the 10 Commandments: Context from the Video

The video dives into the 10 Commandments, setting them in the story of Israel’s liberation from Egypt. It explains how these rules aren’t just laws but a "freedom ethic" for a newly free people. The conversation highlights that the first commandment starts with a statement of identity—"I am Yahweh your Elohim"—before issuing a command, showing the importance of relationship in the covenant.

Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication

  • "Set apart" – Used to describe being distinct; e.g., "This community aims to be set apart by its values."
  • "Ends in themselves" – Referring to things treated as ultimate goals; e.g., "Money should be a tool, not an end in itself."
  • "Command our loyalty" – To demand commitment; e.g., "True leaders command our loyalty through trust, not fear."
  • "Lead us on a path" – To guide actions; e.g., "Kindness leads us on a path of connection."
  • "Claim on me" – A right to demand something; e.g., "No one has a claim on me beyond my own choices."

Step-by-Step Shadowing Guide for This Video

This video’s dialogue is conversational but includes complex ideas, making it great for shadow speak practice. Here’s how to use it: 1. Listen and repeat short segments: Pause after 5-10 seconds, focusing on the rhythm of phrases like "I am Yahweh your Elohim." This helps with improve English pronunciation. 2. Emphasize key terms: Words like "covenant" or "dehumanizes" have stress on specific syllables—imitate the speaker’s tone to master them. 3. Use a shadowing app or site to slow down the audio if needed. This is perfect for IELTS speaking practice, as it builds fluency in discussing abstract topics. 4. Practice intonation: Notice how questions like "It's very flexible?" rise in pitch, and statements like "This is covenant language" fall. 5. Repeat daily: Focus on one section each day to internalize the vocabulary and flow. By following these steps, you’ll not only understand the video’s message but also boost your speaking skills effectively.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →